Month: May 2016

Nutrition is forever a learning process, not only for me, but I think for everyone. There are so many different “facts” out there that most of us have no idea what to believe anymore. With all the fad diets and so called experts telling us what’s good to eat and what’s not, it’s never a shock when I see people just completely give up on maintaining a healthy diet.

Now I’m not a dietician nor a nutritionist, but I do my fair share of research and experimenting to at least have an idea of what our bodies need.

Recently as I was snacking on my mixed nuts at work as usual, a coworker came up to me asking if nuts are healthy being that they’re so fattening. I cringed. I was really surprised at that question. I figured someone who eats moderately healthy and avoids gluten would already have the answer. It made me wonder… How many other people are following diets or eliminating foods and really have no clear understanding as to why they are doing so?

For now, lets stay on the topic of fat. As Dr. Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain, says, “People equate the idea of eating fat with being fat.” Why? Society, the media, pharmaceuticals, the list goes on. Do those of you who eat fat-free everything ever consider that MAYBE there’s something more to the story?

Lets start by differentiating the types of fat.

Monounsaturated/Polyunsaturated- usually plant and fish based (omega-3s).

Ex: olives, avocados, nuts, salmon, flax seed oil.

Saturated- usually animal based.

Ex: beef, chicken, pork, egg yolks, butter, margarine, coconut oil.

Trans- made from vegetable oils but can be found naturally in small amounts in meat or dairy product.

Ex: cake, cookies, crackers.

Obviously we can all agree that trans fats are the fats you may want to avoid. Although I could eat a whole sleeve of Oreos, I try not to…

We can also agree that experts tell us to eat plenty of unsaturated fats. BUT saturated fats? The fats that we’re told to avoid and will give us high cholesterol? They’re good for you! What the world isn’t telling you is that saturated fats help your lungs, heart, bones, liver and immune system function. Oh, and guess what. Our brains LOVE cholesterol! I’m not telling you to go eat a whole container of margarine, but adding some grass-fed butter to your whole egg omelette is more like it.

Calcium absorption into bones? Saturated fat.
Nourishment for heart muscles? Saturated fat.
Clearing out toxins in the liver? Saturated fat.
The ability of white blood cells in the immune system to attack germs? BUTTER!!!!

You get the idea. Fats allow us to absorb key vitamins such as A,D,E and K. Fats are a brain superfuel; It relies on them to thrive and prevent dysfunction.

Now tell me, do you really want to keep neglecting what your body is starving for?

The lowlight is a perfect cool toned shade to sculpt the face, especially on fair skinned girls like myself. The powder is super pigmented but very easy to blend, because remember, a zebra stripe across the face isn’t cute 😀

The highlight shade is BEAUTIFUL! I’m already obsessed with Becca’s highlighters so I had no doubt in my mind that this one wouldn’t be just as beautiful as the rest.

This palette is $42, which may seem a little pricey but considering the pigmentation of the 2 shades inside, it’s totally worth it in my opinion.

Ever get tired of the neutral, brown toned smokey eye? The supposed Kim Kardashian smokey eye? …Which existed way before she was even a thing, by the way.

Then on the other hand, are you someone who thinks a smokey eye HAS to be black. FYI, it doesn’t.

A smokey eye just describes the overall effect that the shadow is supposed to have. Smoke. But it could be any color your heart desires. So why not purple! Below, my process of creating a purple smokey eye is broken down so you can see just how simple it could be 🙂

Step 1:

Start by blending a transition color (a color not too far off, but just slightly darker from your natural skin tone) into the crease.

Step 2:

Add a slightly darker color right over the transition color. Didn’t the transition color make blending the darker color way easier?!

Step 3:

Add your main color to the lid and blend it into the crease.

Step 4:

Add a highlight color onto the brow bone. This could be either a matte color (flat with no shimmer) or one with shine. Just as long as it is lighter than your skin tone to create the illusion that your brow bone is lifted and coming forward.

Step 5:

Add the same lid color to the lower lash line and connect it to outer corner.

KEY NOTES:

I wanted the eye shadow to be the star of the show here, so I didn’t add any top liner.

To create the appearance of thicker lashes, I smudged black shadow into the top and lower lash line.

I then smudged the same black shadow into my upper and lower waterline.

No fake lashes here, just a touch of mascara.

When you think you’ve blended enough, blend one more time.

Personal (and professional) opinion:

Sometimes less is more. Now I’m not bashing Instagram artists (except those that show how to contour your feet…get a life), but many make it seem as though you always need to pair a smokey eye with a huge winged liner & double layered strip lashes. I’m here to let you know It’s okay to take it a notch down and let just one part outshine everything else. You’ll thank me when you see how much time you save 😀